Soluble fibre

Soluble fibre contains gums and pectin. This type of fibre
lowers cholesterol levels and controls blood sugar. It can be found in all
fruit and vegetables, but the following are rich sources:

apples

barley

citrus

guar gum

legumes

oats

pears

strawberries.

How much do I need?

Current advice says adults should aim for 18g fibre a day. Most
of us eat less than this, and the
British Nutrition
Foundation puts the average adult intake at 14g.

How much fibre do foods contain?

Breakfast cereals are our most usual source of dietary fibre.
Below are some examples of other foods, so you can compare fibre content. You
can also check nutrition labels to find out how much fibre something
contains.

What's 'good'?

The British Nutrition Foundation has issued the following
guidelines for labelling food.

'High fibre' should contain 6g fibre per 100g or
ml.

A 'source' of fibre should contain 3g fibre per 100g or
ml.

One portion penne pasta (90g dry weight): 2.3g
fibre.

One portion wholewheat pasta (90g dry weight): 9g
fibre.

One bowl Healthwise Bran flakes (30g): 4.5g fibre.

One bowl fruit and fibre cereal (30g): 2.7g fibre.

One slice (28g) white bread: 0.8g fibre.

One slice (28g) wholemeal bread: 1.9g fibre.

One portion (80g) lentils: 1.5g fibre.

One orange (160g): 2.7g fibre.

80g boiled cabbage: 1.7g fibre.

How do I increase dietary fibre?

Because fibre is central to your bowel health, be careful about
suddenly increasing your intake and overburdening your digestive
system.

You should only aim for a 5g increase over a three to five day
period, and drink plenty of water for it to be effective.

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